Supreme Court Does More Violence To Voting Rights In Texas
[su_right_ad]The Supreme Court ruled this weekend that a Texas voter I.D. law which has been ruled “deliberately discriminatory” can be used to restrict voting rights in this year’s midterm elections, which is just the latest of the Roberts Court’s injuries to voting rights. That court famously gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act a little over two years ago, and within hours of that decision, the state of Texas began advancing measures that had previously been banned under the act, including this law. The U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi overturned the law earlier this month, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit blocked that judge’s order pending the outcome of an appeal, clearing the way for the law to be enforced in this year’s midterms.
In a true case of opposite-day logic, the Supreme Court appears to have relied on the Fifth Circuits’s rationale, that the courts should avoid changing voting laws so close to an election, in order to allow Texas to move forward:
When the Fifth Circuit blocked the Corpus Christi ruling, it did so largely because the election was imminent. In doing so, the Fifth Circuit panel relied heavily on a 2006 Supreme Court decision cautioning courts not to put changes in voting laws into effect close to election day (Purcell v. Gonzalez).
Although the Supreme Court majority did not say anything about the Fifth Circuit’s rationale, it probably took something of the same view of the nearness of the election, even though the circumstances behind the 2006 decision by the Justices were significantly different — including the lack in that case of any court ruling that the changes were invalid.
The case the Fifth Circuit used, Gonzalez v. Arizona, was an injunction by the Supreme Court preventing Arizona from implementing a new proof-of-citizenship requirement for the 2006 election…Continue Reading
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KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker October 19th, 2014 at 5:28 pm
Conservatives want us all to go back to when certain people’s vote only rated as 3/5ths of a person. And they are damn serious about it with their poll taxes and voter restrictions. These republicans hate a free and fair democracy and will do anything for power.
Larry Schmitt October 20th, 2014 at 7:29 am
It was the people themselves who only counted as 3/5. They didn’t get the vote at all.
forpeace October 19th, 2014 at 6:53 pm
This is another important news related to Voter ID in Wisconsin:
With Voter ID On Hold, Here’s What Wisconsin Republicans Have Planned For Election Day. – Less than one week after the Supreme Court delayed the implementation of Wisconsin’s voter ID law until after the midterm elections, a GOP official urged Republican activists to take matters into their own hands to prevent voter fraud. Milwaukee County’s Republican Elections Commissioner Rick Baas warned a crowd of volunteers and supporters Friday night to be “concerned about voter fraud,” and urged the hundreds of attendees to take an “extra step of vigilance.” “You as a Wisconsin resident can challenge people who are not supposed to be voting,” he said at the Milwaukee County Republicans event. “You’ve got to do that.”
Under state law, voters, election workers, official observers, or any member of the public can challenge the validity of someone’s vote, but to do so, they must swear under oath that they have firsthand knowledge that the person is not qualified to vote. A challenge cannot be based on a mere suspicion or hunch. http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/10/19/3581575/with-id-law-on-hold-wisconsin-republicans-vow-to-challenge-voters-at-the-polls/
tracey marie October 19th, 2014 at 9:43 pm
harrassment is not allowed at the polls and no one not voting or working may NOT talk to or question anyone inside the polling place
R.J. Carter October 20th, 2014 at 11:30 am
That’s the job of the poll worker…if they do their job.
Deborah October 19th, 2014 at 6:53 pm
bradblog.com/Docs/JudgePosnerDissent_PhotoID_WI_101014.pdf
Spread this around to every site you visit. The judge who started it all changed his mind!
searambler October 19th, 2014 at 8:10 pm
The most shocking part of this ruling is that Justice Breyer voted with the SC Five…
AAASuperPatriot October 19th, 2014 at 11:39 pm
You can’t call yourself a patriot while restricting people’s right to vote.
fahvel October 20th, 2014 at 3:42 am
I was under the impression that the supreme court in the usa made rulings based upon an/their interpretation of the us constitution and not upon the convenience of a voting time line which can be changed with ease rather than amending the constitution.
Larry Schmitt October 20th, 2014 at 7:32 am
And I used to be under the impression that people had rights, and corporations didn’t. Evidently things change.